Entrepreneurs from abroad are ‘lining up’ to invest in Bangladesh as there is a sign of improvement in the country’s business climate and international image these days, said a top World Bank executive on Monday.

However Michael U Klein, the Bank’s vice-president for the private sector, strongly suggested that the government, to attract foreign investment, must ensure that projects are not held up by bureaucratic tangles.

‘Bangladesh has shown dynamism in certain areas in the last few years, and there have been unprecedented interest from the investors,’ he told reporters after a meeting with commerce minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury at the Bangladesh Secretariat.

When asked about the country’s image problem, the World Bank official said that despite talk of corruption and poor governance, there are other developments, such as the fact that ‘the investors are lining up’ to invest in Bangladesh.

The Bank’s group, including the International Finance Corporation (IFC), will support Bangladesh in further improving the business environment and also in making investment in the infrastructure sector, Klein added.

The multilateral lending agency has agreed to give time extension to a commerce ministry project on export diversification, and it will also help to increase intra-regional trade under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA).

‘It is a good time for the political leadership to look forward,’ said Klein, referring to the potential of Indo-Bangladesh bilateral trade. IFC is now working in such areas.

Commerce minister Altaf Chowdhury said the World Bank had assured the government that it would support Bangladesh’s readymade garments sector and also help the country to get duty-free access to the US market.

When asked if the WB would help in capacity building for trade and international negotiations, the minister said Bangladesh has enough expertise and knowledgeable people to negotiate bilaterally or internationally.